Nick Gerda
What I cover
I’m a reporter focusing on government accountability in Southern California, including around the homelessness crisis. I try to find answers to questions like: Why does it often seem like there’s so little progress around homelessness? What can be done to make systems more effective? And how are people in charge of these systems using their authority?
My background
I grew up in L.A. and Orange County and previously covered the county government in Orange County for more than a decade — often reporting on issues like homelessness, public safety, mental health and the role of money in politics. At LAist, my reporting on corruption spurred a criminal investigation that led one of Orange County’s most powerful officials to resign, plead guilty and get sentenced to years in prison for a scheme that diverted millions in food money from needy seniors. For that work, in 2025, I was honored to be named journalist of the year for California, SoCal and Orange County and to receive the national Dan Rather Medal for News and Guts.
My goals
I want my coverage to inform the public and inspire positive change by identifying areas for improvement in the ways leaders are exercising power.
Best way to reach me
Email: ngerda@laist.com. Signal: ngerda.47
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Three top officials have left the L.A. Homeless Services Authority in recent weeks without press releases announcing the moves, LAist has learned. -
New county letters obtained by LAist find that a nonprofit led by an O.C. supervisor’s 22-year-old daughter has failed to prove what it did with more than $4 million intended to feed needy residents during the pandemic. -
Orange County Board of Supervisors: Who's Running In The March 5 Primary Election And Why It MattersThe winners of Districts 1 and 3 will join a five-member board that oversees a county of about 3 million residents with an annual budget of about $9 billion. -
Federal officials say they’re making progress in housing unhoused veterans in the L.A. area, as they push back on calls by a federal judge and advocates to return to housing 4,000 veterans at the agency’s sprawling West L.A. campus. -
The ethics proposal deadlocked among O.C. supervisors 2-to-2. O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do, who directed millions to his daughter’s nonprofit without publicly disclosing the connection, was absent for the vote. -
County records obtained by LAist show O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do directed an additional $6.2 million in taxpayer dollars to his 22-year-old daughter’s group without publicly disclosing the family ties. -
“The public's trust is being eroded by people who abuse the process,” Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento told LAist. -
The missing audits are for $4 million in taxpayer funding earmarked to provide meals for seniors and people with disabilities. LAist previously reported Do directed funding to the group without disclosing his family ties. -
Federal judge David O. Carter says he wants the VA’s West L.A. campus to dramatically increase the housing available for veterans to include space for about 4,000 people. -
Mayor Bass made an ambitious campaign pledge to address homelessness by housing 17,000 Angelenos. We’ve been trying to keep tabs, but it’s complicated.
